


Thanks to Alcohol

by atrilial



Series: Lilly Shepard [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, FemShep - Freeform, Shakarian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-04
Updated: 2013-04-04
Packaged: 2017-12-07 10:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atrilial/pseuds/atrilial
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After drinking a bit too much with Dr. Chakwas, Lilly Shepard finally finds the courage to take her relationship with Garrus to the next level.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanks to Alcohol

The hall was spinning slightly as Lilly stepped out of Dr. Chakwas medbay. Very carefully, deliberately, Lilly put one foot in front of the other. Right step. Left step. She could do this. Lifting her head, she noticed with surprise that she’d marched her way to Garrus’ gun battery. Garrus. She smiled at the door. _I like him. He’s always so reliable. Gets things done._ The door open with a somewhat bewildering whoosh, and once her eyes adjusted, she took a moment to curiously study the turian’s backside anatomy. Or what was visible of it through his heavy armor. _Wonder what he looks like under it..._  
  
“Shepard, need me for something?” She almost jumped when he suddenly addressed her, wondering vaguely when he’d turned around. She managed to collect herself enough to continue their usual starting exchange.  
  
“Have you got a minute?” Probably not. He was always calibrating something. Stupid calibrations. What could possibly need to be corrected that often and why hadn’t they replaced it?  
  
“Sure, just killing time anyway.” Wow...lucky her. Hmmm...she needed a place to sit if she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself. Carefully she made her way to the nearby storage box and settled comfortably on it. There, now the room wasn’t spinning nearly as much. She smiled up at him as he continued. “I wanted to thank you again for your help with Sidonis. Whatever happens with the Collectors or the Reapers or whoever else comes after us, I know you’ll get the job done.”  
  
“I couldn’t do this without you Garrus.” Definitely true. What would she do without her bestest friend? She should tell him that. He was her bestest friend. Like a big, scaly teddy bear. _Garbear. Hehe._ Had she said that before? But he was already answering her, so she let it go for the moment.  
  
“Sure you could. Not as stylishly of course.” She appraised his armor with a critical eye. Blue was a good color. Like his face markings. Were those permanent? Or did he paint them on every morning? She had to stifle a giggle at the thought of him standing in the bathroom each morning, meticulously painting his face.  
  
“It’s strange going into a suicide mission on a human ship,” he continued. “Your people don’t prepare for high-risk operations the way turians do.”  
  
That caught her attention. She was always interested in how turians did things. They were...like...the ideal society. So...militaryey. Was that a word? It should be. With decided concentration, she formulated her question and was impressed with how articulate it sounded.  
  
“How do turian crews get ready for high-risk missions?”  
  
“With violence, usually,” he explained nonchalantly. “Turian ships have more operational discipline than your Alliance, but fewer personal restrictions. Our commanders runs us tight, and they know we need to blow off steam. Turian ships have training rooms for exercise, combat sims, even full-contact sparring.” Combat sims...that sounded fun. She’d need to requisition one from TIM...Timmy..Timmerrimyroo. He seemed to be throwing money around anyway. But Garrus was still talking. She focused back on him. “Whatever lets people work off stress.”  
  
Hmmm, that sounded fun. But somehow...wasn’t there a reason the Alliance didn’t do this? Hmm...something about...injuries. Yeah...that’s right. It could be dangerous.  
  
“You mean turian ships have crewmen fighting each other before a mission?”  
  
Garrus shrugged. Or at least...that’s what she assumed that gesture equated to.  
  
“It’s supervised, of course. Nobody is going to risk an injury that interferes with the mission. And it’s a good way to settle grudges amicably.” Having an excuse to deck Jacob for all his unwelcome come-ons _would_ be very cathartic. “I remember right before one mission we were about to hit a batarian pirate squad. Very risky. This recon scout and I had been at each other’s throats. Nerves, mostly. She suggested we settle it in the ring.”  
  
She almost laughed out loud. Nobody could take down _her_ Garrus. He was invincible. If a rocket to the face wasn’t gonna take him out, nothing was. She grinned, eager to hear how he’d put this silly she-turian down.  
  
“I assume you took her down gently?”  
  
“Actually, she and I were the top-ranked hand-to-hand specialists on the ship.” Garrus was good at hand-to-hand, was he? Somehow that idea seemed inordinately funny to her. “I had reach, but she had flexibility.” _Yeah, I bet you did._ “It was brutal. After nine rounds, the judge called it a draw. There were a lot of unhappy betters in the training room. We, ah, ended up holding a tiebreaker in her quarters.” A weird burning sensation started in Lilly’s chest. She shifted uncomfortably, wondering at the brief satisfying flash in her mind of some nameless female turian having her face bashed in. “I had reach, but she had flexibility. More than one way to work off stress, I guess.” That filled her mind with much more pleasant images. Ideas she would have immediately buried if she were sober. But in her drunk mind, the gears were turning. Garrus seemed stressed. She was _definitely_ stressed. And here he’d presented, oh-so-casually, this wonderful idea. Now that she was thinking about it, the longing for it was overwhelming. She wanted this. She _wanted_ this. How long had she wanted him? Her lips stretched in a mischievous smirk. She wasn’t going to wait another minute.  
  
“It sounds like you’re carrying some tension.” Lilly rose and made her way towards Garrus, feeling like a predator stalking it’s prey. _Target locked._ “Maybe I could help you get rid of it.”  
  
Garrus shifted, looking slightly confused. He was cute when he was confused.  
  
“I, uh, didn’t think you’d feel like sparring, Commander.” She shook her head, a feral smirk across her lips. He wasn’t getting away that easily.  
  
“What if we skipped right to the tiebreaker?” She neared him, leaning against the console in what she hoped was a seductive manner. “We could test your reach...and my flexibility.”  
  
She watched with glee as the light came on in his head.  
  
“Oh! I didn’t...Huh.” He stumbled for a minute, but recovered remarkably swiftly. “Never knew you had a weakness for men with scars.” She almost giggled, remembering something he’d said about krogan women liking scars. She wondered distantly what that said about her. His scars certainly lent him a roguish appeal. “Well, why the hell not? There’s nobody in the galaxy I respect more than you.” A frown pulled at her lips. Respect...somehow that didn’t seem quite like what she was looking for. But she didn’t bother to think much further into it. Garrus was still talking. “And if we can figure out a way to make it work, then...yeah. Definitely.”  
  
Definitely. He wanted her. He definitely wanted her. She felt ridiculously giddy as she sauntered past him, out into the hall, his eyes following her. It wasn’t until several seconds after the door whirred shut behind her, that it finally started to sink in.  
  
She’d just...propositioned...her best friend...for sex. _Oh god. I just propositioned Garrus for casual...sex._ The thought instantly sobered her. _What the hell did I just do?!_


End file.
